Concern after NFL star wields gun, sends alarming text messages

The screengrabs included texts with his agent in which he said someone was trying to kill him.

The New York Post reports Griffen, a lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, posted a video in which he said that people were trying to “pop (him)”, and displayed a weapon.

“I still got clips left,” he says in the video. “This is my gun … registered to me, I bought all my bullets around town, (Vikings running back) Dalvin Cook helped me purchase this gun. It all belongs to me.”

Later, the Vikings said Griffen had come out of his home, which he had previously refused to leave, without incident, and “is now getting the care he needs.”

“We are thankful to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnetrista Police Department and the Orono Police Department for their quick response and dedication to ensuring the situation ended peacefully,” the team said in a statement.

“Our focus remains on Everson’s health and safety and providing the proper resources for him and his family.”

Griffen, 33, has had previous scary mental health incidents over the past several years. In 2018, he jumped out of an ambulance that was taking him to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

This was the culmination of several days of concerning behaviour, including threatening to “shoot someone” if he was not allowed into his Minneapolis hotel room.

Griffen is an 11-year NFL veteran who has made the Pro Bowl four times. His whole career has been spent with the Vikings, except 2020, when he played for the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.

This season, he has appeared in nine games and recorded five sacks.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Concern after NFL star wields gun, sends alarming text messages